The new Progressive Conservative government vowed to promote rural development and take greater control of the province's natural resources, it also distanced itself from the Liberal Party's resettlement plans, and industrialization policies.

The offshore oil was a new industry which could have very lucrative benefits for the impoverished province, however the federal government challenged Newfoundland's claimed ownership of the resource.

Like his predecessor, Peckford hoped to develop the Lower Churchill hydro project, but his government was also unsuccessful in securing a transmission route through Quebec.

The Accord received widespread support and was hailed as a turning point in the province's economy, however it would take years for the offshore oil industry to be developed.

He also supported the Meech Lake Accord, which he hoped would decentralize federal authority and give the province a greater say over fisheries and offshore oil management.

His government also partnered with Philip Sprung to build hydroponic greenhouses on the island and sell cucumbers in Atlantic Canada and the eastern United States.

The PC Party had been confident that they could defeat Wells in the next election, but by November 1995, a Corporate Research Associates (CRA) poll showed that the Liberals held a large lead over the Tories.

[55][56] After discovering that the province was in worse financial shape than previously thought, and facing annual deficits of $1 billion, he made a number of controversial cuts.

As well Dunderdale faced many questions about her leadership and communication skills as public support for her and her government declined significantly during her three years in office.

[74] In the lead up to the 2012 budget, Dunderdale and her ministers began to warn the public of looming spending cuts to rein in projected multi-year deficits.

Finance Minister Tom Marshall said that instead of making large cuts all at once that the government would embark on a "core mandate analysis" to restrain spending growth for the next ten years.

[77][78] In June 2012, Dunderdale's government brought forth controversial legislation, known as Bill 29, that reformed the province's Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Despite a number of big wins for her government throughout the last half of 2013, Dunderdale struggle to regain the ground she had lost in public opinion following that year's budget.

[88] In October she joined officials with Husky Energy to announce that the company would build a new offshore oil platform for the West White Rose Extension in Placentia.

[89] Only weeks later her government announced the benefits they had negotiated as part of the Canada's Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union, particularly with regards to the fishery.

Days later Dunderdale and her ministers were joined with fishing industry officials to announce that as part of the free trade agreement the provincial and federal governments would invest $400 million into the fishery over three years.

[95] The outages lasted for several days which caused businesses to close and delayed the opening of schools and post-secondary institutes following their Christmas break.

[97] After weeks of outrage over her handling of the power issue, which saw a PC MHA cross the floor to the Liberals, it was reported that Dunderdale was returning early from vacation to announce her resignation.

Dunderdale said that Finance Minister Tom Marshall would succeed her as premier and become interim leader of the Progressive Conservatives while the party held a leadership convention to find a permanent successor.

Five days after being sworn in Marshall announced that he would be striking a committee to review the province's access to information laws due to the backlash the government had received since Bill 29 was adopted in June 2012.

[107] On 2 September 2014, Marshall and Finance Minister Charlene Johnson held a news conference with multiple union leaders to announce that they had negotiated a deal to reform pension plans for the majority of public sector employees.

[108] While polling showed a significant increase in government satisfaction and high approval ratings for Marshall, the Progressive Conservative Party was unable to regain the support it had lost during Dunderdale's tenure as premier.

In a surprise move Davis announced that St. John's lawyer Judy Manning would serve as the department's new minister, despite not being an elected member of the House of Assembly.

[114][115] Davis received criticism for dropping justice from the department's name as well as the appointment of Manning, due to her being unelected and not willing to seek a seat in the House of Assembly until the next election.

[117] On 15 January 2015, Davis announced that the House of Assembly would be opening the following week so that his government could bring forth legislation to reduce the number of electoral districts in the province by 8.

[118] Along with reducing the number of electoral districts, the Davis government will also review MHA pension plans and identify measures to increase the participation of elected members in the House of Assembly.

On 28 April 2018 lawyer Ches Crosbie defeated Health Authority CEO Tony Wakeham to succeed outgoing leader Paul Davis.

The leadership convention operated under a mixed vote-points system in which a hundred points were awarded in each of the 40 districts across the province, based on the percentage of vote each candidate won.

[137] On January 30, 2024, Liberal candidate Fred Hutton was elected in the Conception Bay East - Bell Island by-election, gaining the seat from the Progressive Conservatives.

[143] The Tories lost power in 1989 but continued to argue for decentralization in opposition, voting in favour of a package of proposed constitutional amendments called the Meech Lake Accord, while the Liberal Party led by Clyde Wells opposed it.